NASA Astronaut Shares Pictures Of Tropical Storm Barry As Seen From International Space Station

A NASA astronaut on the International Space Station has been keenly following Tropical Storm Barry and has given us on earth a glimpse as to what the storm looks like from outerspace.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Centre in a public advisory said that Tropical Storm Barry is moving northwestward toward the American Louisiana coast Friday. It said the storm is expected to head north and inland over the lower Mississippi Valley.

Astronaut Christina Koch’s photos, according to the National Hurrican Centre, show that Barry’s storm clouds threaten parts of Louisiana and Mississippi with 10 to 20 inches of rain, with a few locations getting up to 25 inches. “Storm surge, gusts of winds and a few tornadoes are also potential consequences of the storm,” it said.

Reports say hurricane warnings have been given to Louisiana Gulf Coast as the storm is expected to gain strength through landfall. Officials have closed floodgates with the prediction of life-threatening flooding along the central Gulf Coast and into the Lower Mississippi Valley. The Discover Magazine said warm moist air is rising vigorously across a wide swath of territory to the south. As this happens, it says the clouds boil up, high and higher into the atmosphere. This is known as convection. “The false colors help forecasters monitor how the storm clouds are growing. The change in color from orange to bright yellow indicates a transition from thinner to thicker clouds made up of ice crystals. Green colors show where water droplets in clouds are turning into ice particles, called glaciation,” officials said.

The National Hurricane Centre predicts, monitors and tracks storms and cyclones with a host of satellites. The Centre sees where the storms and hurricanes form, how it develops and where it will end up. One such satellite is the joint project between NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - GPM Core Observatory, Space.com said. Experts say the satellite uses a microwave instrument to estimate the rainfall.